Letters from America- An Immigrant’s Letter Home American History Mr. Sontheimer Leaving your home to go off to a new place is very difficult. Immigrants that came to America between 1885 and1914 were seeking betters lives but had very little understanding of the country that they were going to relocate their lives. In the case of many immigrants earlier waves of their fellow countrymen (or women!) were already in America and helped them to make the transition to a new life.You are going to put yourself in the place of one of these experienced immigrants and write a letter back to your home country to try and encourage more members of your family or community to join you(or not come!). Your final letter will be FIVE PARAGRAPHS LONG and follow the format that I have provided. All research materials will be available to you and may choose many of the details in your letter on your own. The following writing guide must be used for this assignment. You will also include 3-5 pictures to illustrate your letter. All of the following details should be included in your opening paragraph. (Paragraph 1) Circle Your Country of Origin Ireland
Russia
Poland
Italy
China
Japan
Africa
Mexico
Germany
Circle the reasons you left your home country Religious Freedom
Political Freedom
Economic Opportunity
Rejoin Family
Curiosity
Taken Forcefully
Others_ Circle the methods and include the route that you used to travel here Ship from Europe
Ship from Asia
Ship from Africa
Circle the city where you have settled (or closest if you decide to be a rural dweller New York City
Philadelphia
Charleston
Harrisburg
San Francisco
Salt Lake City
Other Work - All of the following details in this section should be included in your 2nd paragraph. What do you to support your family? Immigrants had a wide variety of jobs depending on their destination.Choose one occupation below (it must make sense for example you cannot be a fisherman in Salt Lake City) and include details from research about your job.
Circle One Coal Miner
Steel Worker
Garment Worker
Slaughterhouse
Farmer
Fisherman
Other_ Improvements- All of the following details should be included in your 3rd paragraph. How is life in America better? What do you like about living here compared to the place that you came from? Do you have more freedom? Do you have better food? What types of material possessions have you acquired? What else would you like to have? (remember all of these should be appropriate to the time period. You cannot have a plasma screen tv!) Obstacles-All of the following details should be included in your 4th paragraph. What is hard about being an immigrant? Do you pay high rent? Is your home crowded? Do you face discrimination at work? What types of wages are you paid? Do you have to food available that you like?
Conclusion- All of the following details should be included in your 5th paragraph. Finish your letter back to your native country by trying to convince someone else to either join you or stay home. Promote the benefits of immigration or warn your compatriots back home about the dangers of coming. Remember to summarize some of your key arguments from earlier in the letter to complete the task. Pictures-Your letter should be illustrated with 3-5 pictures that show aspects of your journey to America and the life you are living as an immigrant. If you need help inserting or finding photos please see me.
Terms to Define- Click on Links to research what these terms mean. Please create a summary for each one and place it in your wikispace. I suggest that you do this first in order to learn more for your letter. The Huddled Masses, The Statue of Liberty represents freedom and opportunity, but it was originally meant to represent opposition to slavery. At the time it was the largest structure in New York, which would overwhelm immigrants as they entered Ellis Island. Some did not like the statue and thought it was useless, but as it stands today, it represent the land of the free. The New Immigrants, From 334,203 immigrants in 1886, to 1.285 in 1907, immigrants were swarming the United States. Coming from various places and thousands at a time. Although the “new immigrants” mostly consisted of citizens from Italy, Poland, Russia, and the Balkans. The Chinese Exclusion Act For 71 years, most Chinese immigrants were not allowed to enter the United States without a residence certificate. Only travelers, teachers, students, and merchants of Chinese decent were allowed in. It was only until 1950 that the U.S. would allow “paper families” in. Contract Agreement In the 19th century, the demand for labor workers grew. They worked under a “credit ticket system.” Areas who never had slaves, imported workers after France abolished slavery. As a result of the immigration of labor workers, areas like Fiji and Trinidad were made up of many indentured workers. Immigration Restriction Around the beginning of the 20th century, there became restrictions to immigration. Restrictions such as contract laborers, illiterates, and all Asian immigrants. In 1882, the U.S. imposed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It made a “head tax” and made it only possible for immigrants to enter on a continuous voyage. United States's Changing Face Grade Criteria-Please attach to final paper draft. /15Letter contains five well-written paragraphs that are joined together with a logical introduction and conclusion. Must include completed writing guide. / 15 Letter contains AT LEAST three relevant and plausible details about immigration and the immigrant experience / 10 Letter demonstrates creativity and enthusiasm for the assignment. __/ 10 Required terms are displayed in wikispace with letter and pictures.
Dear Mother, The United States is great! There is so much opportunity here it is overwhelming. Not only opportunity for success, but there is so much more freedom here to choose your religion. I don’t want to complain about home in Germany, but mother I don’t think I would ever come back. The voyage over here was not pleasant though. Each passenger had their own space of about 2 feet wide by 6 feet in length, which put us in the most uncomfortable positions. Also, there were many diseases on the ships. It smelled of vomit and the dead. Dysentery, fever, scurvy, mouth rot, and constipation all came from the old food and meat, and also unclean water. This caused many to die aboard. Children among ages 1 to 7 rarely ever survived. Once a child does die, they must be thrown over the boat into the sea. Never have I felt so bad for a mother to see that her child has no proper resting place. Once I arrived in New York City, and after the passengers had been let off, I felt as if I were in a dream. New York is stunning; it has thousands of people, trolleys, trains, tall buildings, and advertising and even elevated trains!Seeing such an industrialized city made me anxious to start life here. It gave me a feeling of success and a new start. I work in a garment factory, although it’s not much of a factory, it’s more or less a building sort of like and apartment, cleared out for sewing machines and other things needed to make clothing. It is a very dangerous job though; none of the machines have any safety protection on them and even girls as young as 9 work here. I get paid 2-3 dollars a week, which is not much, but enough to get by. I met this guy named Dirk a couple days ago, but he is going to Milwaukee to work at a brewery. I don’t know if I will stay in New York this whole time, I feel like I should travel but then again, I don’t have much money to do so. Life is much freer here; I have freedom of religion, speech and much more, things that can’t be guaranteed in Germany.I don’t feel as if I’m living under radar and can’t do something that would oppose the government. I’m a lot more calm and stress-free. I do miss the home-style food from home though, the food here is good and there is a lot of variety, but it’s nothing like you’re cooking. With the money I make, I get my food for the week and try to save a little extra for a Model T. Model T’s are the cars here, and they are beautiful. It would make getting to work and getting other places so much easier. I wouldn’t have to ride the horse and buggy everywhere anymore. I have a good many clothes, the style here is better than in Germany. It’s a little more expensive, but worth the money. I do think that being an immigrant is harder than being a citizen though. They try to treat us all the same but at the same time, immigrants have higher rent for our apartments and we’re paid minimum wage. So most immigrants work more than citizens to earn as much as Americans do. The girls I work with are very nice, they try to help me as much as possible is I get stuck. The men aren’t really discriminate against immigrants, just woman workers in general. I guess a lot of them still think women shouldn’t work. I think that if I left the garment factory, it would be very hard to find another job. I would love to pursue my dreams and become a doctor, but as of now, that is unimaginable. I miss you so much, and I would really love for you to come visit! I know you would love it here, and what would be even better is if you found a job a little better than mine and would live here with me!There are a few negatives of being an immigrant, but the positives outweigh them. All the struggles are worth it in the end because of all the freedom we have here. With the way New York is booming, when you would get here, it would be huge and I wouldn’t expect it to stop growing. I hope to hear from you soon, and maybe when you hear from me again I’ll be on my way to becoming a doctor, just maybe. With much love, Elise
American History
Mr. Sontheimer
Leaving your home to go off to a new place is very difficult. Immigrants that came to America between 1885 and 1914 were seeking betters lives but had very little understanding of the country that they were going to relocate their lives. In the case of many immigrants earlier waves of their fellow countrymen (or women!) were already in America and helped them to make the transition to a new life. You are going to put yourself in the place of one of these experienced immigrants and write a letter back to your home country to try and encourage more members of your family or community to join you(or not come!). Your final letter will be FIVE PARAGRAPHS LONG and follow the format that I have provided. All research materials will be available to you and may choose many of the details in your letter on your own. The following writing guide must be used for this assignment. You will also include 3-5 pictures to illustrate your letter.
All of the following details should be included in your opening paragraph. (Paragraph 1)
Circle Your Country of Origin
Ireland
Russia
Poland
Italy
China
Japan
Africa
Mexico
Germany
Circle the reasons you left your home country
Religious Freedom
Political Freedom
Economic Opportunity
Rejoin Family
Curiosity
Taken Forcefully
Others_
Circle the methods and include the route that you used to travel here
Ship from Europe
Ship from Asia
Ship from Africa
Circle the city where you have settled (or closest if you decide to be a rural dweller
New York City
Philadelphia
Charleston
Harrisburg
San Francisco
Salt Lake City
Other
Work - All of the following details in this section should be included in your 2nd paragraph.
What do you to support your family? Immigrants had a wide variety of jobs depending on their destination. Choose one occupation below (it must make sense for example you cannot be a fisherman in Salt Lake City) and include details from research about your job.
Circle One
Coal Miner
Steel Worker
Garment Worker
Slaughterhouse
Farmer
Fisherman
Other_
Improvements- All of the following details should be included in your 3rd paragraph.
How is life in America better? What do you like about living here compared to the place that you came from? Do you have more freedom? Do you have better food? What types of material possessions have you acquired? What else would you like to have? (remember all of these should be appropriate to the time period. You cannot have a plasma screen tv!)
Obstacles-All of the following details should be included in your 4th paragraph.
What is hard about being an immigrant? Do you pay high rent? Is your home crowded? Do you face discrimination at work? What types of wages are you paid? Do you have to food available that you like?
Conclusion- All of the following details should be included in your 5th paragraph.
Finish your letter back to your native country by trying to convince someone else to either join you or stay home. Promote the benefits of immigration or warn your compatriots back home about the dangers of coming. Remember to summarize some of your key arguments from earlier in the letter to complete the task.
Pictures-Your letter should be illustrated with 3-5 pictures that show aspects of your journey to America and the life you are living as an immigrant. If you need help inserting or finding photos please see me.
Terms to Define- Click on Links to research what these terms mean. Please create a summary for each one and place it in your wikispace. I suggest that you do this first in order to learn more for your letter.
The Huddled Masses, The Statue of Liberty represents freedom and opportunity, but it was originally meant to represent opposition to slavery. At the time it was the largest structure in New York, which would overwhelm immigrants as they entered Ellis Island. Some did not like the statue and thought it was useless, but as it stands today, it represent the land of the free.
The New Immigrants, From 334,203 immigrants in 1886, to 1.285 in 1907, immigrants were swarming the United States. Coming from various places and thousands at a time. Although the “new immigrants” mostly consisted of citizens from Italy, Poland, Russia, and the Balkans.
The Chinese Exclusion Act For 71 years, most Chinese immigrants were not allowed to enter the United States without a residence certificate. Only travelers, teachers, students, and merchants of Chinese decent were allowed in. It was only until 1950 that the U.S. would allow “paper families” in.
Contract Agreement In the 19th century, the demand for labor workers grew. They worked under a “credit ticket system.” Areas who never had slaves, imported workers after France abolished slavery. As a result of the immigration of labor workers, areas like Fiji and Trinidad were made up of many indentured workers.
Immigration Restriction Around the beginning of the 20th century, there became restrictions to immigration. Restrictions such as contract laborers, illiterates, and all Asian immigrants. In 1882, the U.S. imposed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It made a “head tax” and made it only possible for immigrants to enter on a continuous voyage.
United States's Changing Face
Grade Criteria-Please attach to final paper draft.
/15 Letter contains five well-written paragraphs that are joined together with a logical introduction and conclusion. Must include completed writing guide.
/ 15 Letter contains AT LEAST three relevant and plausible details about immigration and the immigrant experience
/ 10 Letter demonstrates creativity and enthusiasm for the assignment.
__/ 10 Required terms are displayed in wikispace with letter and pictures.
Dear Mother,
The United States is great! There is so much opportunity here it is overwhelming. Not only opportunity for success, but there is so much more freedom here to choose your religion. I don’t want to complain about home in Germany, but mother I don’t think I would ever come back. The voyage over here was not pleasant though. Each passenger had their own space of about 2 feet wide by 6 feet in length, which put us in the most uncomfortable positions. Also, there were many diseases on the ships. It smelled of vomit and the dead. Dysentery, fever, scurvy, mouth rot, and constipation all came from the old food and meat, and also unclean water. This caused many to die aboard. Children among ages 1 to 7 rarely ever survived. Once a child does die, they must be thrown over the boat into the sea. Never have I felt so bad for a mother to see that her child has no proper resting place.
Once I arrived in New York City, and after the passengers had been let off, I felt as if I were in a dream. New York is stunning; it has thousands of people, trolleys, trains, tall buildings, and advertising and even elevated trains! Seeing such an industrialized city made me anxious to start life here. It gave me a feeling of success and a new start. I work in a garment factory, although it’s not much of a factory, it’s more or less a building sort of like and apartment, cleared out for sewing machines and other things needed to make clothing. It is a very dangerous job though; none of the machines have any safety protection on them and even girls as young as 9 work here. I get paid 2-3 dollars a week, which is not much, but enough to get by. I met this guy named Dirk a couple days ago, but he is going to Milwaukee to work at a brewery. I don’t know if I will stay in New York this whole time, I feel like I should travel but then again, I don’t have much money to do so.
Life is much freer here; I have freedom of religion, speech and much more, things that can’t be guaranteed in Germany. I don’t feel as if I’m living under radar and can’t do something that would oppose the government. I’m a lot more calm and stress-free. I do miss the home-style food from home though, the food here is good and there is a lot of variety, but it’s nothing like you’re cooking. With the money I make, I get my food for the week and try to save a little extra for a Model T. Model T’s are the cars here, and they are beautiful. It would make getting to work and getting other places so much easier. I wouldn’t have to ride the horse and buggy everywhere anymore. I have a good many clothes, the style here is better than in Germany. It’s a little more expensive, but worth the money.
I do think that being an immigrant is harder than being a citizen though. They try to treat us all the same but at the same time, immigrants have higher rent for our apartments and we’re paid minimum wage. So most immigrants work more than citizens to earn as much as Americans do. The girls I work with are very nice, they try to help me as much as possible is I get stuck. The men aren’t really discriminate against immigrants, just woman workers in general. I guess a lot of them still think women shouldn’t work. I think that if I left the garment factory, it would be very hard to find another job. I would love to pursue my dreams and become a doctor, but as of now, that is unimaginable.
I miss you so much, and I would really love for you to come visit! I know you would love it here, and what would be even better is if you found a job a little better than mine and would live here with me! There are a few negatives of being an immigrant, but the positives outweigh them. All the struggles are worth it in the end because of all the freedom we have here. With the way New York is booming, when you would get here, it would be huge and I wouldn’t expect it to stop growing. I hope to hear from you soon, and maybe when you hear from me again I’ll be on my way to becoming a doctor, just maybe.
With much love,
Elise